Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, USA – JUNE, 2015 Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard was a 48-year-old woman suffering from Munchausen syndrome. She liked to be pitied and supported because she claimed her child was seriously ill. However, her daughter, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, was a perfectly healthy girl, so Dee Dee fabricated her illnesses and exaggerated them.

Gypsy-Rose & Clauddine

From a very early age, she forced Gypsy to take medication she didn’t need. She invented symptoms, leading to several unnecessary surgeries and causing Gypsy to end up in a wheelchair for a short time. Gypsy was forced to pretend to others and doctors that she had leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and other serious illnesses.

Dee Dee benefited from this abuse of her daughter beyond the emotional satisfaction that came from the pity of those around her. She received various charitable donations, such as money, a trip to Disney World, and even a house.

For a long time, Gypsy herself believed she was seriously ill, living in that belief practically her entire life. She had almost no social contact and was developmentally delayed. By the time she was 23, she had begun to realize what was happening and that her mother was really just abusing her. She made a friend online, Nicholas Godejohn, who reassured her that she was right.

They corresponded online for a while and got to know each other. Along with that, their hatred for Dee Dee grew. Together, they planned her murder. Gypsy believed it was the only way to escape her mother’s control.

Her boyfriend Nicholas turned their plans into reality. On June 9, 2015, he stabbed Dee Dee while she was sleeping in her bed. Her body was not found until June 14. The investigation quickly led CSI to Gypsy’s trail, mainly because she wasn’t at the scene of the crime and had started posting vindictive comments on Facebook.

Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court took into account that she was a victim of her mother and did not commit the murder. Her boyfriend Nicholas received a life sentence.

READ MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dee_Dee_Blanchard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy-Rose_Blanchard